Generate Private Key File Openssl

This module allows one to (re)generate OpenSSL private keys.
One can generate RSA, DSA, ECC or EdDSA private keys.
Keys are generated in PEM format.
Please note that the module regenerates private keys if they don’t match the module’s options. In particular, if you provide another passphrase (or specify none), change the keysize, etc., the private key will be regenerated. If you are concerned that this could overwrite your private key, consider using the backup option.
The module can use the cryptography Python library, or the pyOpenSSL Python library. By default, it tries to detect which one is available. This can be overridden with the select_crypto_backend option. Please note that the PyOpenSSL backend was deprecated in Ansible 2.9 and will be removed in Ansible 2.13.”

Generate Private Key From Crt File Openssl
Openssl Generate Public Private Key

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

Either cryptography >= 1.2.3 (older versions might work as well)
Or pyOpenSSL

The next section shows a full example of what each key file should look like. The Generated Key Files. The generated files are base64-encoded encryption keys in plain text format. If you select a password for your private key, its file will be encrypted with your password. Be sure to remember this password or the key pair becomes useless. The private.pem file looks something like this.

Parameter	Choices/Defaults	Comments
attributes string	The attributes the resulting file or directory should have. To get supported flags look at the man page for chattr on the target system. This string should contain the attributes in the same order as the one displayed by lsattr. The `=` operator is assumed as default, otherwise `+` or `-` operators need to be included in the string.
backup added in 2.8	Choices: yes	Create a backup file including a timestamp so you can get the original private key back if you overwrote it with a new one by accident.
cipher string	The cipher to encrypt the private key. (Valid values can be found by running `openssl list -cipher-algorithms` or `openssl list-cipher-algorithms`, depending on your OpenSSL version.)
curve added in 2.8	Choices: secp384r1 secp521r1 secp224r1 secp192r1 secp256r1 secp256k1 brainpoolP256r1 brainpoolP384r1 brainpoolP512r1 sect571k1 sect409k1 sect283k1 sect233k1 sect163k1 sect571r1 sect409r1 sect283r1 sect233r1 sect163r2	Note that not all curves are supported by all versions of `cryptography`. For maximal interoperability, `secp384r1` or `secp256r1` should be used. We use the curve names as defined in the IANA registry for TLS.
force boolean	Choices: yes	Should the key be regenerated even if it already exists.
group string	Name of the group that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
mode string	The permissions the resulting file or directory should have. For those used to /usr/bin/chmod remember that modes are actually octal numbers. You must either add a leading zero so that Ansible's YAML parser knows it is an octal number (like `0644` or `01777`) or quote it (like `'644'` or `'1777'`) so Ansible receives a string and can do its own conversion from string into number. Giving Ansible a number without following one of these rules will end up with a decimal number which will have unexpected results. As of Ansible 1.8, the mode may be specified as a symbolic mode (for example, `u+rwx` or `u=rw,g=r,o=r`). As of Ansible 2.6, the mode may also be the special string `preserve`. When set to `preserve` the file will be given the same permissions as the source file.
owner string	Name of the user that should own the file/directory, as would be fed to chown.
passphrase string	The passphrase for the private key.
path path / required	Name of the file in which the generated TLS/SSL private key will be written. It will have 0600 mode.
select_crypto_backend string	Choices: auto ← cryptography pyopenssl	The default choice is `auto`, which tries to use `cryptography` if available, and falls back to `pyopenssl`. If set to `pyopenssl`, will try to use the pyOpenSSL library. If set to `cryptography`, will try to use the cryptography library. Please note that the `pyopenssl` backend has been deprecated in Ansible 2.9, and will be removed in Ansible 2.13. From that point on, only the `cryptography` backend will be available.
selevel string	Default:	The level part of the SELinux file context. This is the MLS/MCS attribute, sometimes known as the `range`. When set to `_default`, it will use the `level` portion of the policy if available.
serole string	When set to `_default`, it will use the `role` portion of the policy if available.
setype string	When set to `_default`, it will use the `type` portion of the policy if available.
seuser string	By default it uses the `system` policy, where applicable. When set to `_default`, it will use the `user` portion of the policy if available.
size integer	Default:	Size (in bits) of the TLS/SSL key to generate.
state string	Choices: absent	Whether the private key should exist or not, taking action if the state is different from what is stated.
type string	Choices: DSA ECC Ed25519 Ed448 X25519 X448	The algorithm used to generate the TLS/SSL private key. Note that `ECC`, `X25519`, `X448`, `Ed25519` and `Ed448` require the `cryptography` backend. `X25519` needs cryptography 2.5 or newer, while `X448`, `Ed25519` and `Ed448` require cryptography 2.6 or newer. For `ECC`, the minimal cryptography version required depends on the curve option.
unsafe_writes boolean	Choices: yes	Influence when to use atomic operation to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target file. By default this module uses atomic operations to prevent data corruption or inconsistent reads from the target files, but sometimes systems are configured or just broken in ways that prevent this. One example is docker mounted files, which cannot be updated atomically from inside the container and can only be written in an unsafe manner. This option allows Ansible to fall back to unsafe methods of updating files when atomic operations fail (however, it doesn't force Ansible to perform unsafe writes). IMPORTANT! Unsafe writes are subject to race conditions and can lead to data corruption.

Key	Returned	Description
backup_file string	changed and if backup is `yes`	Sample:
curve	changed or success, and type is `ECC`	Elliptic curve used to generate the TLS/SSL private key. secp256r1
filename string	changed or success	Sample:
fingerprint	changed or success	The fingerprint of the public key. Fingerprint will be generated for each `hashlib.algorithms` available. The PyOpenSSL backend requires PyOpenSSL >= 16.0 for meaningful output. {'md5': '84:75:71:72:8d:04:b5:6c:4d:37:6d:66:83:f5:4c:29', 'sha1': '51:cc:7c:68:5d:eb:41:43:88:7e:1a:ae:c7:f8:24:72:ee:71:f6:10', 'sha224': 'b1:19:a6:6c:14:ac:33:1d:ed:18:50:d3:06:5c:b2:32:91:f1:f1:52:8c:cb:d5:75:e9:f5:9b:46', 'sha256': '41:ab:c7:cb:d5:5f:30:60:46:99:ac:d4:00:70:cf:a1:76:4f:24:5d:10:24:57:5d:51:6e:09:97:df:2f:de:c7', 'sha384': '85:39:50:4e:de:d9:19:33:40:70:ae:10:ab:59:24:19:51:c3:a2:e4:0b:1c:b1:6e:dd:b3:0c:d9:9e:6a:46:af:da:18:f8:ef:ae:2e:c0:9a:75:2c:9b:b3:0f:3a:5f:3d', 'sha512': 'fd:ed:5e:39:48:5f:9f:fe:7f:25:06:3f:79:08:cd:ee:a5:e7:b3:3d:13:82:87:1f:84:e1:f5:c7:28:77:53:94:86:56:38:69:f0:d9:35:22:01:1e:a6:60:...:0f:9b'}
size integer	changed or success	Sample:
type	changed or success	Algorithm used to generate the TLS/SSL private key. RSA

Authors¶

Yanis Guenane (@Spredzy)
Felix Fontein (@felixfontein)

Hint

If you notice any issues in this documentation, you can edit this document to improve it.

While Encrypting a File with a Password from the Command Line using OpenSSLis very useful in its own right, the real power of the OpenSSL library is itsability to support the use of public key cryptograph for encrypting orvalidating data in an unattended manner (where the password is not required toencrypt) is done with public keys.

The Commands to Run

Generate a 2048 bit RSA Key

You can generate a public and private RSA key pair like this:

openssl genrsa -des3 -out private.pem 2048

That generates a 2048-bit RSA key pair, encrypts them with a password you provideand writes them to a file. You need to next extract the public key file. You willuse this, for instance, on your web server to encrypt content so that it canonly be read with the private key.

Export the RSA Public Key to a File

This is a command that is

openssl rsa -in private.pem -outform PEM -pubout -out public.pem

Private

The -pubout flag is really important. Be sure to include it.

Next open the public.pem and ensure that it starts with-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----. This is how you know that this file is thepublic key of the pair and not a private key.

To check the file from the command line you can use the less command, like this:

less public.pem

Do Not Run This, it Exports the Private Key

A previous version of the post gave this example in error.

openssl rsa -in private.pem -out private_unencrypted.pem -outform PEM

The error is that the -pubout was dropped from the end of the command.That changes the meaning of the command from that of exporting the public keyto exporting the private key outside of its encrypted wrapper. Inspecting theoutput file, in this case private_unencrypted.pem clearly shows that the keyis a RSA private key as it starts with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----.

Visually Inspect Your Key Files

It is important to visually inspect you private and public key files to makesure that they are what you expect. OpenSSL will clearly explain the nature ofthe key block with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- or -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----.

You can use less to inspect each of your two files in turn:

less private.pem to verify that it starts with a -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
less public.pem to verify that it starts with a -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----

Generate Private Key From Crt File Openssl

The next section shows a full example of what each key file should look like.

The Generated Key Files

The generated files are base64-encoded encryption keys in plain text format.If you select a password for your private key, its file will be encrypted withyour password. Be sure to remember this password or the key pair becomes useless.

The private.pem file looks something like this:

The public key, public.pem, file looks like:

Protecting Your Keys

Depending on the nature of the information you will protect, it’s important tokeep the private key backed up and secret. The public key can be distributedanywhere or embedded in your web application scripts, such as in your PHP,Ruby, or other scripts. Again, backup your keys!

Remember, if the key goes away the data encrypted to it is gone. Keeping aprinted copy of the key material in a sealed envelope in a bank safety depositbox is a good way to protect important keys against loss due to fire or harddrive failure.

Oh, and one last thing.

If you, dear reader, were planning any funny business with the private key that I have just published here. Know that they were made especially for this series of blog posts. I do not use them for anything else.

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